YREKA – A former Siskiyou County public defender who stabbed her live-in boyfriend last May entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office this week.

Patience Van Zandt, 46, appeared in the Siskiyou County Superior Court on Tuesday where she pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon. In exchange for her guilty plea, the district attorney’s office offered her a sentence of two years in prison.

However, Siskiyou County Deputy District Attorney Martha Aker explained that Van Zandt will only serve 50 percent of her sentence since she does not have any prior violent or serious felony convictions. Since she has been held in the county jail for nearly a year, she will not receive prison time.

Van Zandt was initially charged with assault with a deadly weapon as well as attempted murder in connection with a May 24, 2012 incident at her Evergreen Lane home.

According to testimony at the June 2012 preliminary hearing, the incident occurred while Van Zandt and her boyfriend were consuming alcohol.

The couple was in the midst of an altercation when Van Zandt bit the victim’s tongue when he tried to kiss her, causing it to split. Then, she stabbed him in the abdomen area. When authorities responded to the scene, Van Zandt was taken into custody.

She stood trial in November 2012 and the jury was hung. The judge declared it a mistrial.

Another jury was selected in January, but an attorney’s illness prompted another mistrial, explained Aker.

Aker stated that the district attorney’s office was preparing to schedule a third jury selection, but opted to offer Van Zandt a plea deal.

She pointed out that both Van Zandt and the victim were intoxicated at the time of the incident. Now, she said the victim and Van Zandt are clean and sober, and the victim has been “uncooperative” with the prosecution. Furthermore, she commented that Van Zandt’s problem is substance abuse, and when she is sober, she is a productive citizen. Van Zandt was, after all, a public defender in Siskiyou County at one time.

However, Aker pointed out that this conviction is a strike offense under the California Three-Strikes Law.

“If she commits another felony she will be sent to prison,” said Aker.